Mason mom: My son was left on a school bus. I can't stop thinking about the what-ifs.

Camdyn Hyden, 8, fell asleep on the school bus and was left there all day after the driver failed to do the required checks. Camdyn's mom, Colleen Peters, can't stop imagining the what-ifs.(Photo: Provided)

A driver has been fired, but a Mason mom says that’s not good enough after her 8-year-old son was left on a bus all day in early April.

Colleen Peters wants answers.

She wants to know why an ambulance wasn't called to check on her son.

She wants to know why he wasn’t examined by a school nurse.

She wants to know why Mason City Schools’ policies – meant to prevent such an incident – weren’t followed and what is going to change to make sure policies are followed going forward.

“I want them to treat my son first instead of worrying what they’re going to say to me," Peters said. "I felt like it was more about covering things up and finding out what to say than the health of my child.”

Camdyn Hyden, 8, fell asleep on the school bus and was left there all day after the driver failed to do the required checks.(Photo: Provided)

April 3 was the first day back after spring break, and Peters put her son on the bus at 8:40 a.m. Camdyn Hyden went to school. Peters went about her day.

But Camdyn fell asleep on the way. The driver didn't see him, parked the bus at the garage and left.

Hours later, around 1:50 p.m., the 8-year-old apparently pried open the bus doors and got off. He was crying and upset, Peters said, and it took a while for anyone from the garage to notice him.

He'd been on the bus for longer than five hours.

At 2:14 p.m. – after Camdyn had already been driven back to school in a supervisor’s personal car, Peters said – she got a call from the principal, explaining what happened.

The bus driver, William Hauck, was fired immediately. He was supposed to do two checks to make sure the bus was clear.

Hauck was a retired bus driver from Mason schools who came back to work as a substitute driver.

"This action is being taken because you admitted to not checking your bus when you returned to the bus garage, which is required of all drivers," states Hauck's termination letter. "As you realize, you left a young student on the bus unsupervised for many hours."

The school's attendance secretary, Luann Leetch, got a letter of reprimand. Leetch was responsible for initiating calls to parents whose children were absent without excuses, but she never issued the morning calls on April 3.

"This is a good example of systems not working," said Mason schools spokeswoman Tracey Carson.

Camdyn Hyden, 8, fell asleep on the school bus and was left there all day after the driver failed to do the required checks.(Photo: Provided)

Going forward, Carson said, the district will call the parents of every absent child, whether excused or unexcused.

“Yes, we do have policies in place," Carson said. "These were mistakes made, and so what we’re doing now is trying to evaluate what to do to reduce human error.”

Carson said she understands why Peters is upset.

“I can only imagine – I’m a mom myself,” she said. “It’s horrific. This is a terrible, terrible mistake.”

Wednesday morning, Peters was still reeling as she was getting ready to drive Camdyn to school. He says he’s too scared now to ride the bus.

And Peters is scared as well. She can’t stop thinking about the what-ifs.

What if Camdyn had wandered off instead of waiting outside the bus garage?

What if a stranger had gotten on the bus?

“What if it was 10 degrees hotter?” Peters said. “Because that’s all it would have taken.”

Camdyn Hyden, 8, fell asleep on the school bus and was left there all day after the driver failed to do the required checks. Camdyn's mom, Colleen Peters, can't stop imagining the what-ifs.(Photo: Provided)